Prelude to Power the Starz Original Series
by BluePhenix1
Summary: The series follows James "Ghost" St. Patrick, owner of a popular New York City nightclub. He is also a major player in one of the city's biggest illegal drug networks. He struggles to balance these two lives and the balance topples when he realizes he wants to leave the drug ring to support his legitimate business, and commit to his mistress. /originals/power
1. Chapter 1

James St. Patrick was born in 1976 in the South Bronx to, Anita Jackson and James St. Patrick. Anita was a young, beautiful 16 year old when James was born, while James St. Patrick, Sr. was her mother's employer. Mrs. Jackson was a widower who went to lives with Mr. St. Patrick and his wife when her husband died; Anita was 7 years old. Mrs. Jackson and Anita shared a space in the basement of the St. Patrick home. Having been an only child and being unable to have children of her own, Mrs. St. Patrick quickly grew to love, Anita. She always said that having her live with them was like having Anita around was a breath of fresh air in the house. When Anita was 10, Mrs. St. Patrick offered to move her up to the attic of the home where she would have her own room. Not being one to argue, Mrs. Jackson hesitantly agreed. Everyone was happy with the new arrangements; Anita had her own room for the first time, Mrs. St. Patrick was closer to Anita and Mrs. Jackson saw how happy Anita was so, she eventually settled on the idea of her only child sleeping so far away from her.

Not too long after her 13th birthday, Mrs. St. Patrick went into Anita's room to find Anita was lying on her bed reading the book she got her for her birthday. As soon as Anita saw her, she sat up "Hi, Mrs. St. James. Why do you look so sad?"

Mrs. St. James walked over and sat on the bed besides Anita. "Well, dear, my mother is very sick and I have to leave for a while to go and tend to her."

Anita's somber face matched Mrs. St. James' "I'm really sorry to hear that. How long will you be gone?"

She forced a smile, "I don't know darling. But, what I do know is that I will miss you terribly."

They embraced and Mrs. St. Patrick hugged Anita really tightly "I hate to leave you but, we will speak often, I promise."

"I'll miss you too!"

"But, I'm not leaving yet so, why don't we go out for some ice cream?"

Anita's face lit up, just like Mrs. St. Patrick knew it would. "Go on and get ready, I will see if your mom and Mr. St. James want anything and I'll meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Okay!" Anita responded with a smile as she got up from her bed.

Mrs. St. James took Anita to _Jahn's restaurant and ice cream parlor_ in the Richmond Hill section of Queens; it was her favorite place to get ice cream.

They spent a couple of hours talking and enjoying their ice cream before heading home.

When they returned, Mrs. Jackson was in the kitchen preparing dinner; Anita went in to help her mother while Mrs. St. James went upstairs to begin packing.

The day had finally arrived for Mrs. St. Patrick to head to California to care for her mother. The mood in the house was somber but hopeful.

The days went by and it seemed as though Mrs. St. Patrick's mother was not getting better. Although, they had no idea when Mrs. St. Patrick would return, she spoke to Mr. St. Patrick and Anita almost daily. It had been a year and a half since Mrs. St. Patrick had left and Anita was sad that she had been gone so long. Mrs. Jackson had the day off and went to visit with friends when the phone rang. Anita heard Mr. St. Patrick on the phone and knew by the tone and conversation that he was speaking to his wife. Mr. St. Patrick had informed her that she didn't have much time to talk and promised to call back later on to speak to Anita.

"Did she say when she would be coming home?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Anita began to tear.

Mr. St. Patrick hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. Anita looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm sorry for being selfish, I'm sure you miss her too. She's like my second mom."

"I know, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead again however; this time, he didn't stop, he kissed her eyes, her cheeks and eventually kissed her on her mouth. Unsure of how to react, Anita froze.

"I'm sorry, Anita, did I scare you?"

She looked away, embarrassed. "No."

He smiled at the young woman standing before him. "Anita, have you ever been kissed before?"

She looked at him confused, "Of course, my mom kissed me all the time."

"No, I mean, have you ever been kissed the way a man kisses a woman?"

Her eyes widened "Never."

His gaze softened and he smile slightly. "There is nothing to be ashamed of, Anita. We all do it eventually. One day, you will find a wonderful man who loves you and you can kiss him all the time!"

"Mr. St. James."

"Listen, when it's just to two of us, you can call me, James. Would you like that?"

"I don't know, Mr. St." He raised his eyebrows.

"Um, J-James."

"That's much better, isn't it?"

Anita nodded.

"After all, I have known you since you were just a girl. We don't have to be so formal now, do we?"

"I guess not."


	2. Chapter 2

"Good, just relax." Mr. St. Patrick held Anita's face lovingly in his hands and kissed her mouth again, he felt her body stiffen and her teeth clenched. Smiling lovingly, he looked Anita in the eyes. "You really are very beautiful, Anita. Has anyone told you that?"

"Um, yes, Mrs. St. Patrick tells me all the time."

"Of course, she's very smart." He nodded. "Do you have a boyfriend, Anita?"

"No, Sir."

"Come now, Anita, please call me James."

"Sorry, James" Anita replied while averting her eyes.

"Am I scaring you? I really don't mean to scare you."

"Um, we…"

"I am so sorry, Anita! What am I doing? Oh God, I never meant to hurt you."

Seeing the hurt on his face, Anita softened and relaxed her body. She felt guilty for hurting his feelings. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, James."

"No, it's all my fault, I should never have done that to you; never have put you in that position." His eyes began to well up and he looked away. "I'm sure you're going to tell your mom and she'll make you move away and that isn't what I want. I'm so sorry, Anita; can you ever forgive me?"

Looking worried, Anita responded, "No, I won't tell my mom. I don't want to move away, I like it here."

"It would be much better if this was our little secret because your mom would be so angry with us."

"No, it's okay, I promise I won't tell my mom anything."

"Okay, well, I apologize again!"

"It's okay, James, really."

The phone rang, Mr. St. James stepped away to answered it. Anita could tell that it was Mrs. St. James so; she went into another room until she heard her name being called. She eagerly ran to the phone. "Hello? Hi, Mrs. St. James!" They spoke for a few minutes; at the end of the conversation, Mrs. St. James told her that she'll be home soon and asked Anita to be sure to take care of Mr. St. James for her as she always did. When Anita went back up to her room, Mrs. St. James' words had a little bit of a different meaning to her. She knew how much, James missed Mrs. St. Patrick, they all did. When she was around, she saw how much she and James liked kissing; it seemed to make them both happy. The rest of the day went along as usual except that Anita now saw James in a new light. When she went to bed that night, she imagined herself kissing James the way Mrs. St. Patrick did.

The following morning, Anita's mom woke her up for school the way she usually did except, she said "Sweetheart, breakfast is on the table in the kitchen. I have to run to the supermarket, Mr. St. James is having an unexpected dinner guest tonight and I have to get everything I need. I'll see you when you get home from school; okay?"

"Okay, mom, I love you."

"I love you too, baby! Have a great day." With those words, she left.

Anita got up and headed to the bathroom to shower. She knew that James left for work before she got up from school so, she thought nothing of leaving the bathroom naked. Before she got to her room, James strolled out of his room. Embarrassed, Anita used her hands to hide herself as best she could. "I'm so sorry; Mr. St. James, my mom left and I thought I was here alone."

He smiled as he approached her, held her hands, stepped back and looked at her. She was mortified and lowered her head while trying to pull her hands back to covering herself. "You are so beautiful, Anita. Remember yesterday, I told you that when you and I are alone, we don't have to be so formal. You are an adult, just like I am; you shouldn't be ashamed of your body."

But she was so, she kept her head down. She had never been naked in front of anyone but her mother and, she couldn't remember the last time that happened. James let go of her hands, gently and lovingly held her face in his hands and lifted her head. As soon as their eyes met, Anita looked away.

"Anita, I really want to kiss you again. Would you like that?"

Although she wasn't sure that she would, Mrs. St. Patrick's words rang in her head and she said "yes" because she felt it was her duty to take care of Mr. St. Patrick. It wasn't until his body was pressed against hers that she realized that he was shirtless. He closed his eyes and softly kissed her lips. She stood there with her hands at her side and allowed him to kiss her while trying to relax. She felt his tongue against her lips and she was unsure what to do so, she allowed him to part her lips. His tongue was soft and tasted like toothpaste. As he kissed her, his hands moved away from her face and down to her shoulders. He felt her body begin to tense again.

"Relax, Anita. I would never do anything to hurt you; I love you." He took her by the hand and led her to his bedroom. She was nervous and scared while feeling curious and excited at the same time. He sat her on the edge of the bed, knelt down in front of her and began to kiss her again. This time, his kisses went down her neck and to her breasts. She wasn't sure what to do; her body stiffened again.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked with a look of hurt on his face. "If you want me to, I will, you make the rules."

"It's okay." She responded, unsure of what else to say.

He kissed her on the mouth again then stood before her and pulled off his pants. Anita's eyes grew wide. "Anita, do you think that you can rub it?" She didn't answer. He laid her back on the bed, lay next to her, took her hand, placed it on his penis and began to rub it up and down. "Oh my God, Anita, yes, just like that. Keep doing that." As she rubbed him, he began to suck on her breasts again. She lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and rubbing him the way he had just showed her to. Before she knew it, he stopped, his body stiffened and he asked her not to stop; he exploded all over her hand. He looked over at her and smiled, "I love you so much, Anita. That was wonderful." He lay silent for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She responded still looking up at the ceiling.

He got up and brought her a wet towel for her hand. "Did you like that? Did it feel good?"

She didn't answer because she wasn't sure what the right answer was. She felt like what they had just done was wrong and she had sensations running through her body that she had never felt before.


End file.
